Foodbank volunteer Angela Wilson does not find it hard to imagine what people turning up for help are going through – she’s been there.
The 48-year-old from Torry found herself unable to afford to eat after having to leave her job for health and family reasons.
Now she is the one assisting the growing number in need, and finds it “ridiculous” that anyone is going hungry in a country like Scotland.
“You hear about it abroad and it’s sad,” she said – with Band Aid’s festive plea for Africa once again getting an outing on the radio.
“But here? It’s ridiculous it’s happening here.”
She has an uncompromising message for welfare chiefs, especially over the sanctions regime blamed for much of the increase in food bank demand.
Many of those unable to make ends meet at the end of the week have not received their benefits, sometimes for apparently trivial reasons.
“They are stopping folks’ money because they haven’t turned up to an appointment or silly reasons,” she said.
“Folk who are doing this, it’s their jobs.
“But they need to realise they can go away and eat mince and tatties; that person they’ve just sanctioned with that letter is not eating.”
The dramatic slump in the oil and gas sector has also contributed in no small part to pressure on organisations like CFine.
Striking tales of bankrupt executives turning up for help in expensive cars have to some extent masked the impact on hard-pressed workers who serviced the industry.
Miss Wilson said people need only look at the faces of those who come to CFine – often after a long emotional struggle – to understand how much it meant.
“I am worrier and I have stuff for my family, but when these people come through the door and tell their story, you think ‘why are you stressing Angela, why are you worrying about X, Y and Z?’
“Because they’ve told you they have no heating, they don’t even have a washing machine and only a microwave not a cooker. I have those things.
“Once you give them the food, they just go to the door smiling, compared to when they come in.”